GM to kill Chevrolet Volt, Cruze, Impala as Americans ditch passenger cars
General Motors will close three assembly plants by the end of 2019, and lay off up to 5,600 workers. USA TODAY, USA TODAY
(Photo: Jim Fets Photography, GM via AP)
General Motors is killing several passenger cars, including the Chevrolet Volt and Chevrolet Cruze, two compact vehicles that were held up as examples of the automaker’s post-bankruptcy revival.
The move — part of a sweeping cost-cutting plan unveiled Monday — comes as Americans are abandoning passenger cars in favor of crossovers, SUVs and pickups.
The automaker will no longer make the Volt semi-electric car and the Cruze compact sedan for sale in North America beginning in March, Chevy spokesman Kevin Kelly confirmed.
GM will also discontinue the Chevrolet Impala full-size car, the company confirmed. It will end U.S. production in March and Canadian production in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Kelly declined to say whether the company would sell any of those products in markets outside North America.
The company will also end U.S. sales of the Cadillac XTS and Buick LaCrosse luxury cars after production ends in March. And the Cadillac CT6 will be killed off in the U.S. after mid-2019, though it will continue to be sold in China.
General Motors announced plans to close three assembly plants, one each in Michigan, Ohio and Ontario before the end of 2019. Wochit
The moves are part of a sweeping $6 billion cost-cutting plan announced Monday. GM is poised to close plants in Michigan, Ohio, Maryland and Canada, and cut 15 percent of its salaried workforce.
The Volt’s demise comes about 10 years after the semi-electric vehicle’s production model debuted. The automaker trumpeted the Volt for years as a symbol of its alternative propulsion expertise, but the company has since pivoted toward building fully battery-powered cars. The Volt still had a small gas engine paired with its battery pack.
Mike Ramsey, mobility and transportation analyst for Gartner, said the Volt was “a beautiful design” and a sensible solution for its time. But he said pure battery-powered cars are ultimately a better solution than plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, like the Volt, which compromise on battery range to make way for a small gas engine.
“The only one that really surprises me is the volt and even then I understand the rationale,” Ramsey said. “They’re basically saying that halfway doesn’t work — we’re going all the way.”
Like the Volt, the Cruze was also described for years as an illustration of GM’s recovery after its federal bailout and bankruptcy. GM’s decision to locate Cruze production in Ohio breathed new life into the Lordstown plant and was hailed by President Barack Obama’s administration as reflective of the auto industry’s revival.
HT/MarkW
The article mentions that the unions are going to fight against these closings.
Thus revealing why GM is in so much financial trouble in the first place.
Bingo.
Manufacturers have been removing practicality, utility and capability from passenger cars for years. Today they are more difficult to get in and out, the interiors are like cockpits and trunk openings are too small to make the trunks usable. Plus they all look laike due to ‘coupe like’ styling. No wonder people are buying pickups, SUVs and CUVs.
You can thank rising CAFE standards for the ever smaller passenger cars.
I will have to disagree with the comment about blind spots. 2014 CRV, side mirrors are large enough that there is no blind area in either the left or right side lane at all. Directly behind below 4′ high for a couple of car lengths, yes, hence the need for a back-up camera. More than one lane over you will need to look over your shoulder, but it is more an issue of knowing where to look.
I think the blind-spot problem can be solved by properly adjusting the outside rear view mirrors. They should be set for a wide view, like an entire lane in each mirror. Instead people set their mirrors to see the outside of their vehicle, as if their fender will suddenly cut them off in traffic.
did they learn nothing from Kirk Lazarus: “Everybody knows you never go full….”
Both GM and GE have been involved in a massive ponzi scheme: Buying back stock to keep share prices up. GM $13.4 billion and GE $93 billion. Had GM used that money to ‘reorganize’ 4 years ago they would be competitive, I wonder where the cost of automobiles would be had our politicians looked at the cost to meet all the government standards. For GE, remember Immelt and Obama? Poster child of Obamanomics? “No company has spent as much on U.S. lobbying since 2000 as General Electric. And no component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average has performed worse since 2000 than General Electric.” Washington Examiner
As was pointed out to me by an avid NASCAR fan yesterday, Toyota have a bigger share of the racing saloon market now than the “US” manufacturers, but they are actually all made in the US!
I think there are still lots of people employed making cars in North America – just not by Ford, GM and Chrysler. The traditional car cities are seeing plants close, but all that has happened is that the cars are being made in other places.
10-4.
SE non-union plants are doing very well.
Trump threatens to cut General Motors subsidies in retaliation for U.S. job cuts
Trump’s harsh words rattled investors, who bid down GM shares by 2.6% on Tuesday after sending them up on Monday after the cuts
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday to eliminate subsidies for General Motors Co in retaliation for the automaker cutting U.S. jobs and plants, and the automaker also took fire from Canadian political and labor leaders for cutbacks there.
“The U.S. saved General Motors, and this is the THANKS we get! We are now looking at cutting all @GM subsidies, including … for electric cars,” Trump said on Twitter.
Trump did not explain what “subsidies” he was referring to.
GM electric vehicles are eligible for a $7,500 tax credit under federal law, but it is not clear how the administration could restrict those credits or if Trump had other subsidies in mind.
Trump’s harsh words rattled investors, who bid down GM shares by 2.6 per cent on Tuesday after sending them up on Monday in response to the automaker’s cost-cutting.
Read the rest at:
https://nationalpost.com/news/world/trump-threatens-to-cut-general-motors-subsidies-in-retaliation-for-u-s-job-cuts
All subsidies for any vehicle should be removed. It just distorts the market and makes ALL cars more expensive, in addition to wasting tax dollars.
It is a relic of the CAGW fearmongering that has lost its edge. Nobody is afraid of warming based on “pause buster” changes to the temperature record.
Mexico to continue to make Cruze with 5,600 workers making $3 an hour. Did Mexico bail out GM?
But those are not for the US market.
I had thought that something like the Chevy Volt would have been the last thing they shut down. A hybrid seems to make the most sense for winter where you get a smallish ICE engine to propel and charge on the go plus warm the cabin and the battery pack, plus a small 35-40 mile electric range that covers 80% of all vehicle trips. I would never buy a pure plugin without some type of small ICE for thawing it out in winter and range anxiety, but I suppose that Canada and the northern USA is not the world. What is needed everywhere is a micro ICE generator of about 250 CC, 10 Kw pure generator that supplies thermal heating or A/C and is available for limited onboard charging. I am surprised that an ultra efficient lite weight Rotary type ICE pack hasn’t been developed yet. That solves a lot of issues including the grid issues.
While the production lines in USA/Canada have been dwindling in car output per year with an ultra modern and efficient factory floor, the wages and benefits are so high that Mexico is the only choice to be able to compete with cheaper off shore labor models. Trump is right though, some thanks for all the bailouts to GM the last 10 years. Nothing a 40% tariff on GM cars made in Mexico wouldn’t fix and GM would be singing a different tune and figuring out how to keep the plants open. Would cost more to purchase a made in USA/Canada vehicle so probably not going to happen.
Agree, and many people would seldom use gas with the current Volt – it was a great car that had a significant electric only range.
I googled for “Mazda rotary” and got many hits on the rotary’s return. I also got many hits by googling for “mazda rotary hybrid toyota” at https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=mazda+rotary+hybrid+toyota&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8 Here’s a quote from the second item, on Bloomberg at https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwiug9uCtOvbAhVBHTQIHePcCLkQFggpMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.greencarreports.com%2Fnews%2F1114663_mazda-rotary-engine-may-find-new-life-in-self-driving-toyota-e-palette-project&usg=AOvVaw2th6-_ylS93z70rRNdYMV4:
—————
“Mazda Revives Rotary Engine for Toyota’s Self-Driving Fleet
John LippertJanuary 17, 2018, 7:22 AM PST
Race To Build Self-Driving Cars Accelerates
Mazda Motor Corp. stopped selling rotary engines in 2012 after spending nearly half a century trying to perfect them. The company is reviving the classic technology now in what seems like an unlikely place: battery-powered, self-driving vehicles it’s developing with Toyota Motor Corp. to deliver everything from pizza to people.
Mazda will provide rotary engines to run generators that recharge the batteries for Toyota’s in-development driverless delivery fleet, Masahiro Moro, president of Mazda’s North American operations, said Tuesday in an interview.
“This is a very suitable engine to run a generator because it’s compact and lightweight, with no noise or vibration, and it has very good fuel economy,’’ said Moro, speaking on the sidelines of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
………….
Toyota, which has a 5.25 percent stake in Mazda, is also partnering with the carmaker to build a $1.6 billion, jointly run vehicle assembly plant in Huntsville, Alabama.
Mazda and Denso Corp., a supplier in which Toyota has a controlling stake, are also helping develop engines and mechanical underpinnings for the electric cars Toyota and Mazda are developing together, Moro said. The companies are studying, among other things, whether to use rotary engines as range-extenders on more than just the e-Palette self-driving delivery vehicle, Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons said.”
The Mazda rotary engine is a two-stroke engine as far as I am aware and wastes fuel. Mazda have developed their “Skyactive” engines which improve performance, range and emissions.
Mazda rotaries were a “good idea” but the oil seals and the rotor tip seals just didn’t work well enough to pass the new emissions requirements that came out at the same time. Even minute oil in the exhaust blew the sensors, the “after burner” catalyst converters. Weren’t “better enough” on gas economy to try to work the tens of millions needed to “maybe” get the seals to work perfectly.
If the rotary runs at a constant speed its seals aren’t stressed n don’t leak so emissions aren’t a problem, nor is longevity. If it runs at its optimum speed it’s fuel-efficient.
The Mazda rotary engines are four stroke.
Stroke?
Unfortunately, Americans are buying passenger cars but they are not American. Top sellers are all from Japan and BMW and Mercedes seem to do well. Also, the best deal in cars right now are unsold V90 Volvo wagons, get your luxury car for under 50K!
Indeed, the 3 models of sedans to see positive year-over-year sales growth in 2018 (Toyota Camry, Honda Civic, and Nissan Sentra) where all Japanese cars.
Just because the car has a foreign name plate is not proof that it was built overseas.
Nor does a domestic name plate equal proof that is was built in the US of A. But I don’t think anyone was suggesting location of manufacture (I certainly wasn’t) but rather owning entity. Ford and GM are “American cars” (even when built in Mexico or overseas) and Honda and Toyota are “Japanese cars” even when built in the Rust belt states. VW and BMW are “German cars” and so on.
By definition, a Honda made in the U.S. is an American made automobile. It does not matter where a company is headquartered.
Aren’t the Civics made in Canada? I remember some kerfuffle a few years ago because Canadian-made Civics were cheaper to buy in America than in Canada.
Socialism in action.
If the poster had said “not American made” you’d have a point. He didn’t so you don’t. Regardless of where it’s made, a Toyota is still a Japanese brand, and thus a Japanese car even if it is American made.
It does not matter who the maker is, *ALL* makers use Japanese manufacturing techniques and processes. You will also find many common parts across makers too. Underneath a VW Beetle, an Audi A3 or a Seat Ibiza is a VW Golf. In the 90’s a Ford Telsta used the floor pan of a Mazda 6, including running gear, engines and transmissions.
Government Motors was planning on Hillary raising fuel taxes to pay for ever-escalating health care costs, and other assorted freebies to reward her base. The higher cost of fuel makes small cars, hybrids, and electric cars more attractive.
Obama put his “stamp” on the cars that GM would produce, as a condition for the bailout. I don’t know if Obama ever even owned a car that he bought and used for personal purposes. It would be interesting to find out how much experience he had as a “customer of the car industry” before he directed GM to produce cars that would satisfy his Prius obsession.
Oh come on. This has zip to do with politics and Hillary lost TWO YEARS AGO! Get over it.
Thanks to the size and scope of modern government, there is nothing that has “zip to do with politics”.
Pyke – guessing you are a millennial a with limited understanding of how long it takes GM to design and produce a new car, that does not just tweak an existing design.
Your man, window shopping and promoting what the peasants should buy: https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2018/11/26/watch-six-years-ago-obama-promised-to-buy-a-chevy-volt-now-it-is-dead/
Oh, Russ, I am an old white guy who happens to be an independent, but keep pigeon holing people as it seems that is all your limited mind can do.
I worked in a regulated industry so I am very knowledgeable about times to market, but keep trying, someone you pigeonhole might fit – once in your lifetime.
My limited mind was well aware of the “politics of the GM bailout”. Along with every other adult that I know, that votes and pays taxes.
Your reply implied that you were riding your bicycle home from school during that period.
Anyone that thinks TWO YEARS is a long time, must consider it a large percentage of their life experience.
Would you feel better if I just impugned your intelligence instead of you biological age? That seems to be your “go to” response.
“This has zip to do with politics and Hillary lost TWO YEARS AGO!”
Apparently GM’s CEO was one of the candidates on the short-list for Hillary’s Vice-President.
So I’m totally sure there’s nothing political in all this.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117715004901 how’s it hangin?
Yeah, we’re talking about cars here, a much more relaxing topic than politics. And GM has done a good job failing without government help. They wouldn’t be here now, at least in its present form, without the govt. bailout.
What I want to know is: Did Obama ever buy a volt like he said he was going to once he was out of office or was he once again lying?
Unless you love GM sedans, this has nothing to do with anything important, other than lost jobs in the U.S.
It confuses me as to why we bailed them out (again)… I thought it was to protect jobs but I guess I was wrong.
I don’t understand why they get government subsidies in the form of cheap loans…to a company that is cutting local production and ramping up foreign investments.
I get why we subsidize electric cars…they would not sell any without subsidies and the GREENS insist we have to sell electric cars. So, yeah, they are flat-out wrong but I get it.
If we want to protect jobs, then do what most of the other countries do…raise car tariffs to 10% same as the EU tariffs on American cars.
Lost UNION jobs.
lost jobs in the US is very important to the workers whose job are being lost.
I’ve always bought American owned cars, Specifically FORD (I was quite proud that I owned a car from the one American company that didn’t take the bail-out). With FORD dropping out of the sedan market, I was considering Chevy for my next car. Guess not. Since the American companies don’t want my business, it looks like I’m going Japanese with my next car purchase. I’m thinking possibly Honda.
“…We’re turning Japanese, I think we’re turning Japanese, I really think so.”
GM, Ford, Chrysler have a large pension and health care liability due to the number of years they have been employing workers in the US. Yes, a lot of this is down to union rates etc. but at least some of it is down to government rules. The newer companies (not all of them foreign-owned, but let’s not quibble) have been able to start up without these liabilities and can probably operate on slightly better margins.
This is one – somewhat acceptable – justification for the subsidies, but a lot of it is just national pride. I remember the fuss in the UK when the govt finally stopped propping up “British” Leyland and accepted that the cars being manufactured in the UK would all be by “foreign” firms. From the point of view of employment and taxes, it really doesn’t matter.
Prius Prime is Toyota”s plug in hybrid.
50 mpg with out charging battery.
Cost $26,000 loaded before about $7500 in fed state and pge tax credits.
$19,000 is less than a Corolla.
They last for 300,000 miles with little maintenence.
Great car but GM couldn’t compete with Volt.
Just wait until gas and electricity price rises.
A couple of years ago GM said it had made a battery breakthrough. If it has, this move makes sense.